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ABF re-engineered its sales and operations training, making a large portion of the material from the instructor-led course available in a series of online modules that participants are required to complete prior to the instructor-led class. Results: cost savings, improved content retention, and increased productivity.

As a senior executive, it is all too easy to become disconnected from the troops. It is only by making a conscious effort to stay connected to the front-line experience that you can avoid the ego trap. Otherwise, the trappings of your position likely will throw up blinders along the way that can disconnect you from your core business.

The results from the most recent survey conducted by Gallup show that fewer than 1 in 3 or 30 percent of American workers are committed to the success of their organization and are engaged in their work. And 1 in 5 workers are actively disengaged, actually working against their organization, bosses, or both. That lack of engagement costs the U.S. economy about $370 billion in lost productivity annually.

Kickoff meetings allow the entire organization to come together to intentionally launch the next 12 months. The New Year and opportunities can be outlined to all the members of the company’s community. Top management has the chance to emphasize optimism about what is possible for the organization. All of this offers an opportunity for the attendees to engage in real work around creating the year.

All leaders want to change the status quo, but they use different means. Some take the lead with their ideas, while others lead with their passion and conviction. Still others lead by demonstrating courage in the face of risks and the unknown, and some bring about change by serving others.

A driving force behind the Zebras & Cheetahs (Z&C) Model is the whole person theory. In essence, this states that a Leader must cultivate the four parts of a person—the body, mind, heart, and spirit—in order to truly develop his or her latent potential. Here is an interpretation of this philosophy, which provides a formula for coaching up tribe members.

An Integrated Talent Management Framework (ITM) is not about acquiring, developing, and retaining your workforce. It is all about creating a winning organization by institutionalizing integrated talent processes across your entire organization. Learning and Development is an integral part of this framework and must be fully integrated with talent management to optimize your business results.

People are not things, nor are they assets. Assets are objects that businesses consume, depreciate, and write off over time. People are flesh and blood, emotional, human beings. Leaders need to understand this truth and lead accordingly.

There are three distinct ways a story adds value to you and your business: It makes you relatable, emotional, and multidimensional. If you can capture all three, you will find that people will want to buy into YOU because they are so moved by the story you are telling.

By Kent Sipes We’re trainers—we know what we’re talking about. But since we’re often asked to train about subjects in which we don’t work every day, maybe we’re like physicians: Some of us are general practitioners, while some others are specialists. General practitioners know “the big picture,” while specialists…specialize.